I Don't Care
by Korrin Belle-Deamon
Summary: Fed up with the rest of the Hive Five, Jinx heads out to make her own way. She meets up with Kid Flash who is still trying to woo her, but Jinx knows the life of a hero is not for her, or is it?


Title: "I Don't Care"

Rating: K+ For violence without injury. Lots of property damage though.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, yadda yadda, etc... This is a fan made production, I don't own the characters, but I own this work of fiction. No stealing.

Notes: I only had to watch Lightspeed once to fall in love with the JxKF pairing. Of course the show itself was not enough for me, so the first thing I did was go on to to look for some short, little sweet love stories. Of course, I was rather disappointed by what I found. Either the pacing was way too rushed, or the portrayal of the characters seemed slightly wrong. Of course, not everything was bad, but I didn't find enough to satisfy myself.

This was meant to be a One-Shot, but I'm already coming up with new ideas. If I do write more, it will be a sequel, not a continuation. I've already begun to write some short, slightly related, humorous pieces.

Also, I want to thank "KF Fan" for pointing out the correct color of Jinx's powers. I suppose that's what I get for checking other fanfiction instead of actual screen caps. P

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this.

The night was silent as Jinx made her way through the darkened streets. It was all too different from the noisy Hive Five's headquarters. She couldn't stand them anymore; Gizmo's screeching voice, and Billy Numerous' annoying drawl as he constantly talked with himself. Not to mention there was never anything to eat, thanks to Mammoth.

They'd gotten in to an argument, _again_. Jinx had been planning the perfect crime for a while; something that would help get their name out. She wanted to move up the ladder, to make a name for herself, but they always shot her down with indifference. This time was no different. They claimed the heist was too difficult; more trouble than it was worth. The rest of the Hive Five were satisfied with petty crimes. As long as they didn't have to do real work for their new video games or sound systems, they couldn't care less, but it wasn't enough for Jinx. She didn't want to be just another two-bit villain who no one would remember when all was said and done.

She had impressed Madam Rouge once, by standing up for herself in the face of a true villain, but that was barely a foot on the first rung. She had to do more; much more, and after this one final fight with the rest of the Hive, she had blown up at them, and gone her separate way. They had simply laughed, proclaiming that she'd be back, but she knew, truly, that was the last thing that would happen. She didn't need them. They were holding her back.

She was more likely to join the Titans than go back to the Hive. It was true, that was once an option that had been open to her, but… Even if she had wanted to, she doubted the offer still stood.

And why would she want to anyway? Jinx laughed arrogantly, and it echoed down the abandoned streets. However, as the echo vanished, so did her cocky smile.

She hadn't planned to leave the Hive Five. She'd entertained the idea occasionally, but she hadn't seriously planned for it. Of course, now she had so there was no turning back. She just didn't know what she should do. She had no where to go, and no money.

Of course, that was easily fixable.

Jinx sauntered down the street, peering in to the shop windows. She was in a seedier part of town, so she wasn't expecting much, but she stopped as she passed a pawn shop. She looked through the barred window, trying to discern anything of value in the gloomy darkness. It would be a gamble. Sometimes pawn shops were filled with nothing but junk, but it wasn't like she could rob an electronics store and carry out a couple wide screen TVs by herself.

Without a second thought she sent a wave of pink energy towards the shop window. The glass shattered instantaneously, but the bars resisted slightly, before buckling under the power of the hex, and parting before her. She stepped in through the broken window as the alarms begin to blare. She wasn't worried though. It would take the cops a while to show up.

She didn't waste any time, and made her way right for the jewelry counter. Another hex and the lock crumbled beneath her touch. She opened the counter and quickly began to fill her pockets with any of the higher priced items. There were only a few objects of any real value and she decided to count herself lucky, before strolling from the shop without a care.

She got away without so much as being seen by a passerby, but knew it was nothing to be proud of. This kind of petty crime was exactly what she wanted to move up from, but she had to start somewhere now that she was really on her own.

The next night she met with her usual contact with the black market, and was able to exchange the jewelry for cash. It wasn't much; certainly not enough to get her own villain base, but it was enough to rent a crappy apartment on the bad side of town for a while. It was better than nothing. It was a start.

Jinx spent the next few nights robbing other pawn shops, and was disappointed to see her crime spree barely get a mention in a side column of the local Jump City Newspaper. That wasn't the point though. The money she made from selling pawn shop jewelry was barely more than back up for a rainy day. Now it was time to step things up.

This time, Jinx was ready to steal more than a pocketful of jewelry. She came equipped with two burlap sacks, and was ready to clean a store out. She wasn't aiming for a pawn shop either. This time the target was a real jewelry store; a place that would have nothing but authentic, high quality goods.

She made her way to her chosen store, and didn't hesitate to blow out the windows with a wave of pink energy. Most of the jewelry cases in the front of the store shattered as well, and she stopped off at them first, casually tossing every item in to one of the sacks, ignoring the alarm at this shop as well. She knew this place would probably have better security though. It wouldn't take the police as long to arrive, and there would be security cameras. It was perfect. Her face would be all over TV, and maybe she'd even get to destroy a few cop cars.

She made her way to the next counter, destroying the locks on this one, but before she could open the lid, the burlap sack disappeared from her hand along with a tell tale flash of red and yellow.

Jinx sighed and turned around slowly, knowing that all the jewelry had already been returned to the exact spot she'd taken it from.

There was Kid Flash, leaning against the door and smiling at her, with that oh so innocent and annoying smile.

"It's been a while, stranger," he said as he flashed his cocky grin

"Do you mind?" Jinx asked with a huff.

"You know I can't let you do this," he said, suddenly serious.

Of course she knew that, but she also knew he'd never hurt her. He never had. She also knew it would be futile to try to fight him. For the first time, she wished the rest of the Hive Five were here so they could gang up on him, but at the same time, she didn't really want…

Jinx sighed and squashed that train of thought as she walked past him and out of the store. She could try to fight him, but it would only frustrate her. He would stop her every move without even hurting her, almost like he was toying with her. She didn't really want to hurt him either, but that didn't stop this situation from pissing her off.

That red and yellow flash spun about her once more, and she didn't even have to look back to know that he was following her like a lost puppy.

"Why are you following me?" she said angrily as she turned to face him. He was still smiling and simply shrugged. Jinx sighed once more and turned her back on him. She kept walking, and new that he was still following.

"What? You think I'm just gonna go rob some other store down the street?" she questioned without looking back at him.

"The thought had crossed my mind, but that's not why I'm following you."

"Then quit it!" she shouted suddenly, and turned to fire a blast of pink energy at him, but he already moved, and she turned back to find him standing right in front of her. He was no longer wearing the cocky smile, and he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"You can do so much better than this," he said sincerely, but Jinx simply rolled her eyes and brushed his hands away.

"Duh, I'm working my way up to joining the Brotherhood of Evil," she said matter of factly, and walked past him.

"You know that's not what I mean," he said, scowling, but Jinx didn't stop to pay attention so he ran quickly to get in front of her again.

"You don't need the Hive Five. Those guys don't appreciate you!"

"And you do?" Jinx laughed, more mockingly than she had intended, but then sobered quickly. "You're right though," she said, looking down at her feet. He had been right the last time too, but she didn't want to admit it. Hearing him say stuff like that made her feel funny.

"I am?" Kid Flash asked, somewhat taken aback by her agreement.

Jinx laughed and pushed Kid Flash away, "I ditched those losers over a week ago. They were only holding me back."

Kid Flash frowned, and she could tell he was getting frustrated. "I mean, you don't need this," he said, gesturing to the jewelry store down the street; glass littered the sidewalk and the alarms were still sounding, "You don't need to be a villain to prove yourself."

Jinx sighed. "I told you before. I'm bad luck. I don't do the whole 'hero' thing," she said snidely.

"Does this make you happy? Hurting people?"

Jinx couldn't look him in the eye. Of course it didn't make her happy. That's why she was trying to work her up to being a real villain, so she could join a group who would truly appreciate her destructive powers and her intellect. But would that make her happy. She always thought it would.

"Leave me alone," she said, pushing past him roughly. She stalked down the street and this time he didn't follow.

"I do appreciate you," she heard him say, answering the question she had mockingly asked him before. She froze mid step, her breath caught in her throat and turned to face him. She was mentally readying some snarky comeback, but he was already gone, without even the slightest breeze to indicate which way he had left.

Jinx went home after that, knowing that he wouldn't have gone too far, incase she did go back to finish off the crime she had started. She spent the night trying not to think about what he had said.

Jinx spent the next day lounging around her dingy apartment, clicking through the news channels on her tiny TV. She probably could have stolen a bigger one, but she only used it to watch the news. She wasn't interested in wasting her time with electronic entertainment. She was looking for any mention of her attempted robbery. A tiny little part of her was hoping Kid Flash had gotten caught on the store's security cameras letting her escape, and that he'd catch some flack for it, but she really had nothing better to do.

In a rush of sudden anger she stood up and threw the remote at the TV, but she missed widely and it bounced of the wall. Of course she had something better to do. Since she no longer had the safety in numbers the Hive Five presented she had become accustomed to only committing crimes at night, but that didn't mean she couldn't plan them during the day. In fact, she had been. She didn't want to admit that she was only moping around now due to her encounter with Kid Flash the previous night. She couldn't stop thinking about what he said, despite how she tried to stop her mind from replaying the comment over and over again inside her head.

How could he appreciate her? She was a villain, he was a hero, and he barely knew her. He acted so confident and sure of what he was saying, but it had to be bull. He was just saving energy by trying to convert her.

She didn't want to think about it any more; didn't want to think about him. Without a second thought she left her apartment via the window and fire escape. She couldn't just use the elevator like a normal person, because she wasn't one, and she never would be.

She ran down the open street without any thought as to where she was going. A little voice in the back of her mind told her to scout out the stores around her, but she didn't really do more than glance as she streaked by. She was just running now; running to blow off some stream, but it wasn't really working.

She stopped suddenly, outside the Jump City Museum. Banners were strung across the entrance way, advertising a new exhibit; some ancient long dead king's corpse and his treasure.

"With pleasure," Jinx thought, and pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the noises of protest, as she made her way towards the entrance.

She entered the stark white, clean museum and went to make her way towards the exhibit, but she was stopped by an elderly woman.

"I'm sorry dear, it's almost closing time."

"Oh, don't worry," Jinx said with a smirk, "I won't be long.

"In that case would you care to make a donation to the museum?" the woman asked, gesturing to a large, clear plastic box filled with spare change.

Jinx laughed to herself and reached towards the box as if to donate some money, but a quick flash of pink from her hand and the box fell to pieces, loose change flying everywhere.

"Oops," Jinx said with mock innocence, "I guess they don't make those like they used to." She laughed openly then, mocking the poor woman as she dove to the floor with a gasp, trying to prevent the change from rolling down the hallway.

Jinx stepped over her without so much as a second look, and made her way through the crowd, most of which was already headed towards the exit.

She made her way to the exhibit hall, which was filled with all sorts of glorious treasures; ancient pristine clayworks, beautiful jewel encrusted artifacts, fabulous works of art, and many other things that had been left to honor the dead king.

Jinx didn't hesitate to send out a wave of pink hexing energy. Pottery disintegrated, and gold crumbled at her touch. Anyone who had been left in the exhibit near closing fled in terror.

Jinx was not here to steal, she was pissed, and venting her anger on irreplaceable treasures. She knew she was being a fool, but she didn't care. Her anger wasn't decreasing, and she sent off another wave of energy. A jewel covered casket fell to pieces, sliced in half by her hex which proceeded to blast right through the wall, severing water pipes and electrical wiring, starting a smile fire. She still wasn't feeling any better, and she was readying another hex when suddenly she was swept off her feet by a red and yellow blur.

She barely resisted as it whisked her outside the museum and down the street to an alley. In a way she was glad. Now she could vent her frustration at its source.

Her arrogance seemed to flee as she took a look at Kid Flash's face. He was pissed as well. It was rare to see him without his telltale grin, and now, to see a completely different expression, one of anger, left her flustered and more than a little frightened. She knew if they really fought, she didn't stand a chance against him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he said, his voice angry, but subdued.

Her arrogance returned in the form of a cocky smile. "What did it look like?" she said with an air of pride.

"It looked like a fool destroying priceless artifacts she could have been selling on the black market."

Jinx froze as if she had been slapped. She had been thinking the same thing, but to hear him say it...

"What the hell do you know about being a villain!" she shouted, her anger returning ten fold, "who are you to be giving me advice on such matters!"

"What's wrong with you?" Kid Flash shouted angrily, taking a menacing step towards her, "You're beyond such petty vandalism!"

"Hmph!" Jinx crossed her arms over her chest and turned her nose up at him, "I'd hardly call the destruction of millions of dollars worth of irreplaceable stuff "petty"."

"What do you think you'll gain from this?" he asked, "I highly doubt the Brotherhood of Evil will be impressed."

Jinx didn't acknowledge his comment, though she knew it was likely true. She simply stared him down; her eyes never leaving his, and her scowl never leaving her face.

"Are you honestly proud of what you did?" he asked, but the anger had left his voice, leaving behind the sound of resignation.

Once again her gaze did not leave his. To glance away would be like admitting defeat. He sighed.

"I'm disappointed," he said, sadness now tingeing his voice, "Even for a villain, I expected more from you. This was just low."

Jinx faltered at that last statement, but Kid Flash had already turned away from her. She didn't want to admit it, but his words had hurt.

"Good bye," he said, with an air of finality to his voice, before disappearing in a blur.

A light breeze was the only thing accompanying her in the alley then. A few silent moments passed as Jinx let the conversation sink in, and then, she clenched her fists tightly at her side and grit her teeth. Tears began to crawl down her cheeks.

She was pissed, so why was she crying.

She wiped angrily at her eyes with her black sleeve, trying to erase all evidence of the sudden, overwhelming loss she felt.

Why was she crying!

His tone of voice had made it sound like he would never see her again, and she should have been happy, but she wasn't. Far from it.

Jinx slumped against the brick wall and slid to the ground, unable to hold back her tears. She wished she'd never left the Hive Five. She had never felt as vulnerable as she did right now, and she hadn't even gotten her ass kicked by the Teen Titans or some other do-gooder. Worse, she felt as if she'd gotten her heart kicked.

She stood slowly, and then made her way back to the apartment. She could hear sirens in the distance, but didn't much care. Though taking her anger out on someone weaker than herself did sound like a good idea, she didn't have the heart for it at the moment; especially not after Flash's parting comment.

Her tears had stopped falling by the time she made it back to her apartment, but her face was red and itchy, and she knew she looked like crap. She entered the building the normal way, too tired to climb the fire escape and stared at her feet the entire way up the elevator. She was feeling numb now, but made her way into her apartment and flopped down on the ratty couch. She sighed, and leaned forward to bury her face in her hands. She sat like that for a while, trembling, trying not to cry.

Why did she have to push so hard? She'd known from the start that she liked him; why else would she not have attacked him every time he showed up to ruin her fun? It wasn't that she knew she didn't stand a chance; truthfully she didn't want to hurt him, just like he didn't want to hurt her.

But it was stupid! It just wouldn't work out. She was an aspiring villain, and you can't just switch sides, can you? She had pushed him away, because it was the only thing she could do.

So why did it hurt so much to finally be rid of him?

A gust of wind entered through her window, fluttering the curtains lightly. Jinx looked up. She forgot to close it when she left, and now, it was starting to get cold. She went to the window and closed it roughly.

"Still taking your frustration out on inanimate objects I see."

His voice startled her. She had jumped slightly, but she hoped he didn't notice. She turned to face Flash slowly, where he was leaning against the wall across the room. His scowl faltered as he took in the sight of her red puffy eyes.

"Why'd you have to go and cry?" he asked sheepishly.

An uncomfortable silence passed between them. Jinx simply looked away, not offering any responses and not meeting Flash's eyes; she was too tired to play these games any longer.

She couldn't be a hero. Why couldn't he just accept it as fact and leave her alone.

He stalked across her living room towards her, and cupped her chin, gently titling her face towards his.

"Why do you say 'no', when you resist so half heartedly?"

The question caught her off guard, and her eyes slipped up to look at his; his deep, blue, calming eyes; before slipping back down to stare at the carpet.

"You know if you were a true villain, you'd have no problem blowing me away."

"Don't tempt me," Jinx threatened.

"Why don't you join me?" Flash asked, and Jinx could swear there was more than a slight edge of begging to the question.

"I can't," she finally conceded, "The other Titans would never accept me as a hero. You think I can just stroll in to find a warm welcome after all I've done," she said, more than a little frustrated.

She couldn't avoid the questions; not with him in her apartment with no where to run, and especially not after she'd finally admitted the real reasons to herself.

Kid Flash only grinned. "I didn't ask you to join the Teen Titans," he said, "I asked you to join me! Why do you care so much what others think of you?"

Jinx had no answer to that question. Why did she care? In truth, she didn't really care what people like Madam rouge thought of her, after she had proven to be such a... such a... Oh, the thought of her still made Jinx angry, so why did she care? Why did she still want to join the Brotherhood of Evil?

"Why care what others think, when _I know_ how special you are?" Kid Flash asked, looking straight in to Jinx's eye and stealing her breath.

His hand was still gently holding her chin, and he moved his other to rest firmly on her slender waist. She didn't move. Kid Flash leaned in slightly, slowly, and still Jinx remained in place. He tilted her chin up, and still Jinx did not protest, so before he lost his nerve, Kid Flash leaned forward to seal the distance between them, placing him lips gently against hers. For a moment Jinx remained frozen, before leaning in to the kiss as well.

They broke apart, both blushing madly. Jinx looked down, dropping her eyes to the floor, but she didn't pull away from him as he placed his other hand on her waist, pulling her in to a hug.

"Why do you care?" he breathed softly in to her hair.

"I guess I don't," she said as she circled her arms about his waist, leaning against his strong chest. "Not anymore."


End file.
